#BOOKCHOR Lock The Box // A Steal You Don't Want To Miss!
What is Book Chor?
Say hello to the first proper book-related event that has graced the streets of the great city of Chennai: Bookchor's Lock The Box.
This is an event that's been around pretty much the entire country of India, and has finally come to the quaint little city of Namma Chennai.
It's about time, I tell you.
The event is basically a three-day open book exhibition and took place from the 8th of June, 2018, till today, the 10th of June, where the Vijaya Hall in T. Nagar was rented out to display an array of literally tens of thousands of books. Tens of thousands. 90,000 if we want to be exact, according to Book Chor's Facebook page. What's the big deal about this? Well, this was one of those events where you didn't pay per book that you picked up, but rather, you purchased a whole box, and tried to fit as many books as you like into that box.
I know, right? That's probably where the whole "Book Chor" name tag comes from - literally book thief, and this deal, I can personally say, was quiet a steal. All book lovers gathered had a choice between three different boxes:
- The "Odysseus" Box - Fit a minimum of 8-10 books; priced at INR 999
- The "Perseus" Box - Fit a minimum of 15-17 books; priced at INR 1499
- The "Hercules" Box - Fit a minimum of 28-30 books; priced at INR 2499
Sounds like a really great deal, no? Well, another very important thing to take into account would be that these books put up for the warehouse sale were all second hand books. This didn't really make a big difference in terms of the books' conditions - Book Chor lists in their terms and conditions that they do not accept torn or damaged books, and I didn't see any either. They all looked pretty new and pristine to me.
I went along with a friend of mine and we split the price and got ourselves the Perseus Box, which could fit around 17 books or more, depending on how well we could manage to fit them into it.
I wish I could say that we equally split the number of books as well, but sadly, I don't think I could see that many titles that I would have wanted to actually read. A lot of Danielle Steel, Stephenie Meyer, Stephen King, Nora Roberts, Cecilia Ahern. Not usually my kind of high fantasy or young adult books in the pile. So while I did not find any particular title that I was looking forward to reading, I did get quite a nice haul. And here it is:
1. Twenties Girl by Sophie Kinsella
I love Sophie Kinsella! She is the first author who has made me laugh outright, with her Shopaholic series, and I was completely in love with all her characters, especially her MC, because I couldn't think of anyone more relatable or lovable.
I've actually already read Twenties Girl, but I admit, I don't remember much because it was a very very long time ago. All I do remember is that I loved it, like all of Kinsella's other books. And I found this in hardcopy format! So I thought, why the hell not?
2. Wedding Night by Sophie Kinsella
Another one with Sophie Kinsella to the pile - out of all the titles that I picked up at the event, I think I'm most excited about this one, because its by an author that I absolutely adore, and I don't know anything about the story, not even the name of the MC. How cool is that?
3. Poor Little Bitch Girl by Jackie Collins
Just read that title - what's not to like? This will be the first book I'm picking up by Jackie Collins, but its one that caught my fancy because of two things:
- That title and cover, and the fact that its a hardcopy, duh
- The premise. Its gorgeous.
Three twenty-something women, one hot rich guy, two mega movie stars, and a devastating murder. Poor Little Bitch Girl has it all.
What. What.....! I can't imagine how much fun this one is going to be.
4. The Labyrinth by Kate Mosse
This was the only fantasy title I managed to snag from the event. I'm not sure where this falls, whether its in the category of Lord of The Rings, or...Twilight. There's supposed to Grails and legends and a saviour, so I hope its one of good apples.
5. Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy by Helen Fielding
As Helen Fielding has said: "If people laugh as much reading it as I am while writing it then we'll all be very happy."
The rest of them:
I don't really know anything about these books, just picked them up because the premise was either interesting or I had head about the author or there's a movie on the title (that I haven't see yet).
Here's a shot of the Perseus box:
I'm really glad I went for this event, actually. While I didn't really get any of the titles I wanted specifically, I guess with a steal like that, you'll have to make a compromise. I did, and I'm really happy with my book haul. There's going to be similar events in the month of July in the cities of Jaipur or Hyderabad, I think. If you're interested, just hit up Book Chor on Facebook and you'll know what I'm talking about.
How to get maximum output out of this joyous occasion?
The bottom line is, enjoy it for the fact that you're probably getting ten books for the price of two. Go with an open mind, just pick out anything that catches your eye. It's a mess there, make sure you grab a non-bookworm friend. Seat them carefully with your precious box in the corner of the hall somewhere, and binge on the plethora of paper all you like. Grab ten, grab twenty. Doesn't matter which box you've purchased, grab as many as you'd like. You have the entire day to go back to your friend and your box, sit calmly in the corner and sort through all the titles, then masterfully plunge as many copies as you can into your given box.
While I managed to snag a good eight books, my friend with whom I bought the Perseus box managed a whole twelve books of his own. That's twenty whole books for a box made for 17. If you're as smart as us, who knows, you'd probably end up packing more for less. I hope everyone at this event had as good a time as I did, and I look forward to many such more events in my city. It was about time, and this hopefully kick started the road for thousands more to come.
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